A top golf insider took the PGA Tour to task for their merger with LIV Golf, in what they claim was a “desperate” attempt by the legendary tour to avoid losing more fans.
On Tuesday, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf shocked the sports world by announcing that they had agreed to a merger that would see a new organization formed to oversee the three top golf leagues in the world.
The announcement was a stunning development since the PGA and DP had a bitter rivalry with LIV and all three were still locked up in ongoing litigation over the formation of the upstart tour backed by the Saudi Arabian government.
Related: PGA Tour and LIV Golf agree to shocking merger ending 2-year golf rivalry
While LIV had made some major in-roads in the sport, it has consistently received blowback over being funded by a government that has a long history of human rights violations and has been linked to the murder of reporter Jamal Khashoggi and even the attacks on 9/11.
Those connections were often used when executives from the PGA Tour blasted them as it lured away star players with huge paydays from the billions in the Saudi coffers.
Golf insider blasts PGA Tour for ‘wimping out’ in merger with LIV Golf
Well clearly, something changed that led to the merger announced today. That shift is something USA Today golf insider Kristine Brennan slammed during a Tuesday appearance on CNN.
“Basically the headline is, ‘Nevermind.’ Everything we talked about, the outrage of the PGA Tour, how they spoke about the 9/11 families and their concern about the murders of Jamal Khashoggi, that’s all out the window,” Brennan said. “The PGA Tour has wimped out, just say what it is, and they’ve gone into business with the Saudis the people who killed Jamal Khashoggi, the people responsible for 9/11. I am shocked.”
Many around the golf world are still bewildered by the shocking news and are trying to figure out how the merger came together. When asked about the deal, Brennan claimed that sources informed her that the agreement was made to avoid a further decline in the PGA’s fanbase.
“I talked to a source a few minutes ago, and a couple of other sources, [but] what it sounds like to me is the powers that be in golf were sick and tired of all the squabbling, the drama, the soap opera of the complaining, the arguing, the fighting and the storylines at the Masters, taking away from the game of golf.
“That it was taking away too much of the oxygen of the game at a time when Tiger Woods is finished and Phil Mickelson is basically done. TV ratings are never going to be what they were with Tiger, so frankly they’re desperate to not lose more fans over the bickering between the boys on the PGA and the boys on LIV Golf and so they decided to merge. But what a cave-in.”
– Kristine Brennan
It will be interesting to see how players around the sport react to the merger and if it at all leads more fans to watch LIV Golf events, which has struggled to pull in strong ratings on the CW Network in the United States.